English-Language Vampire Comics, 1935-2000 - A list and a catalogue of the holdings of CESPOC Library

A lifetime achievement. Robert Eighteen-Bisang and J. Gordon Melton first conceived the idea of a comprehensive list of English-language comics featuring vampires in the 1980s, and prepared a first draft of several thousand titles. Massimo Introvigne joined their efforts in 1995. Introvigne and Melton have devoted countless hours of work, including research at comic conventions, antiquarian and specialized stores, and on the Internet for thirteen years. Although their main interests lie in other fields, they regard this work as a professional scholarly achievement (much more than a mere hobby). Starting from the first comic featuring a vampire  a story by Jerry Siegel (1914-1996) and Joe Shuster (1914-1992,) the creators of Superman, featuring their lesser known character Dr. Occult and published in New Fun Comics in 1935  and going on to the end of the year 2000, the list includes more than 11,000 entries and documents the continuous fascination with the vampire theme in comic art, a facet of the lure of the vampire which is in turn inseparable from late modernity’s ideas about life, happiness, and immortality.

“Vampire comics.” In this list, “vampire comics” are not only those whose main theme is a vampire story, such as The Tomb of Dracula, or where a vampire is the main character, such as Vampirella. We tried to document every single appearance of a vampire, be it a mere cameo in a comic book which has nothing to do with vampires, or an appearance on the cover only. By “vampire” we mean a character, more often tha not undead (or at least potentially immortal,) who sucks blood and, in some case, energy (psychic vampire.) It should be a personal being (after some doubts, we did exclude the saga of Elric of Melniboné, where the “vampire” is a sword.) We did include dubious cases, if the word “vampire” is used by the authors. But we excluded vampire-like zombies, demons and ghouls (a ghoul is not a vampire,) and gothic “vamps” (with regret, we finally excluded comics about The Addams Family, since we did not find real vampires there.) Of course, the whole idea of a “psychic vampire” is debated, and there is a grey area where opinions may differ.

About this list. The indication ** in the list is no longer meaningful. It indicated the comics which were part in 2012 of the collections of CESPOC, the Center for Studies on Popular Culture, or of Dr Massimo Introvigne. Several comics have been sold or donated after that date and are no longer in these collections.

Why the list is not perfect. The list is a co-operative enterprise. Several people worked on it for more than twenty years.We finally decided to publish it without further delay, even if it is certainly not complete (we discover two or three new titles each month, and as far as British juvenile comics or Australian comics are concerned we are sure we miss several titles,) and the style of the entries (prepared by different people over the years) may not be perfectly uniform. A paperback may be indicated either as tp. or tpb.; the presence of a main character either as c. (for character) or w. (for with,) and so on. But we believe the list to be understandable.

A note to comic art scholars and collectors. Since we do know that the list is not perfect, comments are welcome. Please write to the librarian at CESNUR, Mr. Luca Ciotta (who did an invaluable work in the latest stage of preparing the list for publication) at cesnur_to@virgilio.it.

A note to dealers. Dealers who think they have identified comics featuring a vampire not included in the list are welcome to contact us, but please send scans of the relevant pages so that we may determine whether it is really a “vampire” according to our standards. Several dealers offered invaluable help during the years. Among many, special thanks to Doug Sulipa of Comic World in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada, and to the staff at Metro Entertainment in Santa Barbara, California.

Note: Aargh! (or Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia) was a fundraising one-shot magazine published in the United Kingdom in support of Lesbians and Gay Action. The copies sold at the first signing (at London’s Forbidden Planet on October 15, 1988) included a commemorative poster signed by Alan Moore, Jamie Delano, Kevin O’Neil & Neil Gaiman.

** no. 595 (Dec. 1987.) "The Ghost of Superman" by John Byrne & Keith Williams. 22p. v Silver Banshee (aka Siobhan McDougal), a vampire that by drawing on your fears, sucks the life out of you. First appearance.

** no. 29 (Mar. 1954.) “The Vampire-Man.” 5p. v various undead vampires and Tom Malverne, aka Jack the Ripper, a candidate to unlife who fails the test to become a vampire and is killed by the undead. Vampire cover.

** (1990). Story by Flint Dille and Buzz Dixon & Dan Spiegle. 48p. v Bludda Dak. Based on the novel by Flint Dille and David Marconi, Acolytes of Darkness, published in the collection by Flint Dille, David Marconi and Aaron Allston, Double Action: Acolytes of Darkness and Web of Danger, London: Double Agent Books, 1988; U.S. edition: Lake Geneva: TSR Inc., 1988.

** no. 14 (Sep. 1972.) “The Vampire Machine” by Steve Englehart & Tom Sutton et. al. 20 p. v Title, with reference to Quasimodo, a living machine (self-programmed as a vampire: other comics featuring Quasimodo have not been included in this bibliography; this one appears because of the unique programming and the use of the word “vampire” in the title.) c. The Beast.

** vol. 2, no. 2 (Feb 1939.) “The Vampire” by Tarpé Mills. 6p. v The Old Beggar (in fact, a pseudo-vampire: a former professor who believes he can achieve immortality by drinking blood; the story takes place in Mussolini’s Italy.) [rpt. in Masked Marvel #2 (1940.)]

** no. 380 (Aug. 1993.) Maximum Carnage, Part 11. “Soldiers of Hope” by David Michelinie & Mark Bagley. 22p. v Morbius. . rpt. in tr.pb. format Spiderman: Maximum Carnage (2005). The Maximum Carnage story line carried on through 15 issues of various Spider-Man comic books. Only those issues in which the vampire Morbius also appeared are cited in this work.

** no. 1b 3rd printing (ISBN: 1-57989-000-8.) ISBN indicated on the back cover, unlike in the 1st and 2nd printing.

Note: Reprinted in hb in both a regular and limited signed edition by Image Comics in 2003.

Angry Shadows. Innovation. b&w. Horror anth. Adult.

** no. 1 (1989.) "Preview: Anne Rice's: The Vampire Lestat" by Faye Perozich, Joseph Lianeaus Phillips et al. 4p. v Lestat de Lioncourt. Cover: John Bolton. This presentation of the first four pages marks the first appearance of Lestat de Lioncourt in the comics.

** no. 94 (May 1997.) “Stories” by Michael Gilbert. 25p. v The Monk [Julie Madison, Batman’s girlfriend in 1939, is trapped in an elevator by terrorists and remembers the events of Detective Comics #31 and 32 (1939,) when Batman saved her from the vampire The Monk. In the end, she is rescued again by Batman.]

___ (July 30, 1939  Continuing series.) Note: One of the longest running British comics (over 2,500 issues,) the weekly publication included a selection of comic strips that continued from issue to issue. In the 1980s and into the mid-1990s, each issue carried a one-page strip, “Number 13," that featured a vampire, Boris, his dad, and a vampire bat, Fiendish. The list of vampire issues is complete for the years 1987-1989 (i.e. the issues which are not listed do include “Number 13”, but none of the vampire characters is in the story), and is not complete for the other years.

___ The Beano Summer Special was issued annually since 1964 and included an anthology of the comic strips from The Beano. Among the strips included in the 1980s and early 1990s was a one-page strip, "Number 13," that featured a vampire, Boris, his dad, and a vampire bat, Fiendish. The list of vampire issues is not complete.

____ (1956-1993.) The Beezer was published weekly between Jan. 21, 1956 and Aug. 21, 1993. In 1976 it incorporated Cracker, thus becoming The Beezer and Cracker. From Cracker it incorporated a strip called “Little ‘Orror,” featuring Little ‘Orror, a vampire. The list of vampire issues is semi-complete.

The Best of Whoopee! Monthly was published between 1985-1995 and reprinted stories from Whoopee!. They included “Fun-Fear,”a strip about a carrousel whose owner was a vampire, “Scream Inn,” where it is the innkeeper who is a vampire. “Spooktakular 7” and “Creepy Car” also occasionally featured vampires. The list of vampire issues is not complete.

/// The Big Comic (later “Big Comic Fortnightly”) reprinted material from various Fleetway comic titles such as Buster and Whizzer and Chips. It included some of the vampire-oriented material which had appeared in these different titles, among others “Deadly Hedley Vampire Detective,” “Creepy Comix,” and “Fun-Fear.” The list of vampire issues is not complete.

___ (1973.) Cited in Donald F. Glut, The Dracula Book, Scarecrow Press, 1975, p. 333. "Blacula, now presented as a former student of the occult, becomes a vampire by night and eventually grinds his victims into dog food in one of the poorest of the comic books in script, art and taste." Not seen.

** no. 11 (Apr. 1941.) Untitled story by S. Cooper and Joe Blair. Mr. Justice Series. 10 p. v The King of the Vampires, Carlos Hubello. c. Mr. Justice. Nazi agents transform a South American diplomat into a vampire in an effort to defeat a pending trade agreement. Note: The vampire is named after artist Carl Hubbell.

Buster was continuously published from May 28, 1960 to Jan. 4, 2000. From Nov. 6, 1976 to Feb. 6, 1982 it was called Buster and Monster Fun. In 1982 it was shortly called Buster and Jackpot. From Sep. 1987 to Jan. 23, 1988 it was shortly called Buster and Nipper. It later become Buster with Whizzer and Chips. Vampire series in Buster included “Deadly Hedley Vampire Detective”, “Dracula Dobbs” and “The Vampire Brats.” “The Beastenders” had Addams-Family-like characters with vampiric featurs (although the Addams Family, strictly speaking, does not include vampires and is not included in this list,) and Dracula made occasional guest appearances. Other series included vampires only occasionally. The following list of vampire issues is not complete.

/// TheBuster Holiday Special was issued annually and included reprints of material from the long-standing series, Buster, known in the later 1970s as Buster and Monster Fun. The various issues reprinted different strips from Buster such as the vampire-oriented strips: "DraculassDaughter of Dracula," "Dracula Dobbs," "Deadly Hedley, Vampire Detective," "Fright School," "Terror TV." The list of vampire issues is not complete.

** no. 62 (May 1947.) “The Kingdom of Terror!”. 12p. v Black Baron. Note: in this story the Black Baron wears a cape but is a human gangster rather than a vampire. When the Black Baron will reappear in the Marvel Universe in 1977 we will be told that he can appear as vampire, werewolf, or human. In the 1977 vampire only some vague features of this 1947 Black Baron are conserved, in addition to the name.

Captain America. Marvel.

** no. 217 (Jan. 1978.) "The Search for Steve Rogers" by Roy Thomas, Don Glut & John Buscema et al. v Vamp, a super-heroine who can drain and use the powers of her enemies. (Intro.) Cover by John Buscema.

** no. 229a. Canadian edition (price indicates as 35c rather than “still only 35c;” indication “#229” appears on the left upper side of the cover while on the U.S. edition indication “229 JAN” appears on the right upper side.)

** no. 2 (Jan. 1973.) "The Monster from the Mound!" by Gardner F. Fox & Frank Brunner. 8p. v Santiago de Valdez. Note: Robert E. Howard, "The Horror from the Mound." Weird Tales, May 1932. [rpt. with the original title “The Horror from the Mound!” in Robert E. Howard Horror (1999;) in Chamber of Chills #2 “Horror” was changed into “Monster” following a suggestion by the Comic Code Authority.] b. “Thirst” by Steve Gerber & Craig Russell. 4p. v Unnamed space vampire.

Note: Nos. 9, 15 and 18 have no vampires. In 1980 Chiller Pocket/Digest Books completed the publication in the U.K. of The Tomb of Dracula series which has earlier been carried in Dracula Lives, Dracula Lives featuring the Legion of Monsters, Planet of the Apes and Dracula Lives, and the Mighty World of Marvel featuring the Incredible Hulk and Dracula Lives. The later issues reprinted the early issues of The Tomb of Dracula.

** no. 14 (Feb. 1953.) “The Ancient Mariner.” 8p. v vampire-like revenants. Based on The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) which, although perhaps not technically a vampire poem, is regarded by many as inaugurating the classic British tradition of vampire poetry.

The Count Duckula magazine was published weekly in 1989-1990, at a time when the TV cartoon series was extremely popular in the U.K. It featured original comic stories by Ian Rimmer, Brian Williamson and others, specially produced for the U.K. market. The list of vampire stories is not complete.

(1975-1976.) Cracker was published weekly between January 18, 1975 and September 11, 1976. It included a strip called “Little ‘Orror,” featuring Little ‘Orror, a vampire. It merged into TheBeezer in 1976, which became The Beezer and Cracker.

/// (Dec. 4, 1937  Continuing series.) Note: Each weekly issue of The Dandy includes a variety of comic strips, the selection of which, like the title, varied over the several decades of its appearance. For several years, it was called The Dandy and Nutty. The main vampire strip is “Strange Hill School,” featuring the vampire Vince.

** no. 1 (1987.) Part 1 “Dark Comics” by James Barnes & John Bridges. 29p. v Shia Chima, Queen of the Fox Spirits (a shapeshifter who is also a blood-drinker) and her minions, some of which are blood-drinking demons.

** no. 20 (Oct. 1954.) “The Living Dead” by John D’Agostino. 6p. v Dr. Klaus Blau, a Nazi doctor drains blood from victims (transforming them into blood-lusting zombies) in order to give it to wounded soldiers.

Note: Darkhold was created as part of the “Midnight Sons” segment of the Marvel Universe. During its life, it was included in three Midnight Sons crossover series that includes vampires Morbius and Hannibal King and vampire hunter Blade.

Notes: A British comic which has reprinted the full color four-part series Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the three-part series Dracula: Vlad the Impaler from Topps plus other black-and-white comics such as stories from Vampirella.

Notes: Twelve issues were published. First six issues were later reprinted as one volume by Warren Publishing Company in 1972. All twelve issues were reprinted in one volume as the Dracula Annual by New English Library in 1974.

Note: This series, reprinting stories from The Tomb of Dracula, was superseded by Dracula Lives featuring the Legion of Monsters. The series reprinted material from Marvel’s The Tomb ofDracula along with material from other Marvel series.

Duckula (1991) replaced Count Duckula (Celebrity) and preceded London Editions Magazines’own Count Duckula (1992,) although we have seen a Duckula no. 4 (see below) dated 1992, with a Duckula trademark on cover which may indicate that it was intended as part of the Count Duckula series. Count Duckula is featured in all stories below unless otherwise indicated. The list of issues is not complete.

(1974-1992.) Dynamite was a monthly juvenile publication by Scholastic Publishing. From issue #1 in 1974, it included “Count Morbida’s Monthly Puzzle Page” a two-page feature created by a series of unnamed authors. In the 1980s most of the appearances were created by Suzanne Long. In each issue, the vampire, Count Morbida, presented different puzzles for the reader to solve. The magazine was discontinued in 1992, although the Count Morbida column was stopped with no. 131. From no. 15 to no. 37 there were two different printings: a retail edition and a subscription edition (the latter recognizable for having, in addition to other variants, if any, a box on the back cover that said “BULK Rate US Postage Paid.”) In July 1977, Dynamite appeared both as no. 37 and (in a different version) as Vol. 1, no. 1, and probably an issue numbered “38” was never published. From issue no. 39, two editions with the same cover and content but with different number appeared: the retail edition with whole numbers (39, 40, etc.) and the subscription edition with volume numbers (vol. 1 no. 1, vol. 1, no. 2, etc.). The only exception seems to be the issue for Oct. 1983, which only exists as no. 113, whilst the volume numbers jump from vol. 7 no. 3 for Sep. 1983 (#112) to vol. 7 no. 4 for Nov. 1983 (#114).

** no. 59 (Dec 1948.) Vampire bat on cover by Joe Doolin. Cover says: “The Vampires of Crystal Cavern.” The Tiger Girl story inside by Allan O’Hara (10p.,) however, does not include vampire bats and is about human criminals rather than vampires.

(1994-1999) Beginning in 1994, the issues of The Haunt of Fear published by Gemstone were gathered into an annual volume, five issues per volume. The annuals were produced by gathering five issues of the Gemstone reprints and binding them together within a new cover. The six annuals included the following issues: #1 (1-5,) #2 (6-10,) #3 (11-15,) #4 (16-20,) #5 (21-25,) and #6 (26-28.)

** (1993.) By Steven Seagle & Bernie Mireault and John Snyder and Tim Sale. 21p. v. Tujiro and others. Ashcan recapitulating Grendel story so far. Cover by Matt Wagner & Teddy Kristiansen. A reprint of The History of Grendel: Devil in Reflection which was distributed in Previews magazine

** no. 9 (Jan. 1954.) a. “A Glimpse of the Pit.” 7p. No vampire content. Presented by Victor Vampire, the first vampire horror host, and other hosts who have cameos on the splash page. b. “Claws of Horror” by Marty Elkin. 7p. v various “humanoid vampire cats.” Presented by Victor Vampire as host.

** no. 10 (Mar. 1954.) a. “The Revolt of the Beasts.” 7p. No vampire content. Presented by Victor Vampire and other hosts who have cameos on the splash page. b. “Sculptor of the Damned.” 6p. No vampire content. Presented by Victor Vampire as host.

** no. 11 (May 1954.) a. “Horn of Horror.” 8p. No vampire content. Presented by Victor Vampire and other hosts who have cameos on the splash page. b. “The Tree of Life and Death.” 6p. No vampire content. Presented by Victor Vampire and The Teller as hosts.

** no. 12 (July 1954.) a. “Blood Lust” by Marty Elkin. 6p. v Victor Vampire and other Unnamed (origin of Victor Vampire: he rescues a stranger and takes him aboard his boat on the ocean, only to discover that the stranger is a vampire, who bites him and makes Victor a vampire.) b. “Morrison’s Monster” by Marty Elkin. 8p. No vampire content. Presented by Victor Vampire and other hosts who have cameos on the splash page.

Note: Hotspur, a British comic weekly carried a weekly strip also called the “Iron Teacher” whose stories from week to week were unnamed. In January 1973, several issues were devoted to a fight with vampire bats in South America.

Note: Not a vampire comic, and there is only a passing reference to Dracula. It is included here because Mina Murray, a major character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is a major character in this storyline. Mina Murray (Peta Wilson) is a vampire in the movie version (2003), but not in the comic. #1-4 rpt. as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Bumper Compendium Edition (1999.) Rpt. as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen hb. (2001;), tpb. (2002;) and in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Absolute Edition (2003.)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Bumper Compendium Edition. America’s Best Comics.

Look In, the juvenile version of the popular TV Guide was published for some twenty years up to 1992. From September 1988 to April 1990 it featured regularly a two-page strip of Count Duckula. Artwork by Arthur Ranson was popular among the many fans of the Count Duckula TV series. The list of vampire issues is not complete.

** no. ? (195?.) “Love Vampire!” 10p. v Lorry (a “love vampire” in the sense of draining emotions without giving anything; a “psychic vampire” in the metaphorical sense later made popular by pop psychology.)

Note: Classic comics series, like Classics Illustrated, reproduced classic novels in comic book format. Classics Illustrated, which had published Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde did not do an edition of Dracula. This version is a color rpt. of the black and white version, originally published in 1973 in the Picture Classics series by Pendulum Press.

Note: Marvel Collection gathered multiple copies of British Marvel comics into a large omnibus edition. No. 2 also includes issue #104 of Planet of the Apes and Dracula Lives in which Dracula appears only as a horror host introducing a non-vampire story.

From its first issue, #330, Marvel Comic superseded The Mighty World of Marvel. Rather than reprinting stories from TheTomb of Dracula it summarized them by omitting subplots and other parts. Issue #330 started summarizing Tomb of Dracula 51 (Dec. 1976.) Issues #335 and 336 do not include the Dracula Lives! story.

Note: 25 issues of Marvel Team-Up were published weekly; from Sep. 11, 1980 to Mar. 4, 1981. Issues 1-22 reprinted, and occasionally summarized, Morbius’ adventures as originally published in Fear (1974-1975.) Marvel Team-Up was merged into the previously existing British edition of Spider-Man Comics Weekly.

** no. 260 (Sep. 21, 1977). Dracula on back cover. Back cover says: “Dracula Lord of the Vampires in Bloodchilling Battle against the Silver Surfer, Sky-Rider of the Space Ways.” Ther is, however, no such story, nor any vampire content, inside.

Note: The long-running Mighty World of Marvel reprinted a variety of material form Marvel Comics through the 1970s with its title varying accordingly. In 1977 it began reprinting material from The Tomb of Dracula series. Earlier stories from the series had previously been published in the U.K. in the Dracula Lives series in 1974. In 1979, Mighty World of Marvel was continued as Marvel Comic, which printed abridged versions of The Tomb of Dracula Stories.

/// Misty was published by IPC/Fleetway from Feb. 4, 1978 to Jan. 12, 1980. It also had two Holiday Specials (1979, 1980) and one Summer Special (1978.) The Best of Misty had 8 issues from Feb. to Sep. 1986. In addition to horror stories, it often featured a comic strip, “Miss T”, about a witch whose friends occasionally included vampires. The list of vampire issues is not complete.

/// (June 14, 1975/Oct. 30, 1976.) Note: Monster Fun was a weekly comic that carried a variety of monster/horror oriented comic strips, several of which had a vampire theme. In October 1976 it was merged with Buster and Cor!! To become Buster and Monster Fun which ran for another six years. Among the vampire related strips were: “DraculassDaughter of Dracula,” “Dracula Dobbs,” “Deadly Hedley, Vampire Detective,” “Fright School,” “Terror TV,” and “Monster Mirth.” Draculass, drawn by Terry Brave, made her initial appearance in the first issue of Monster Fun and ran through the entire series. He appearances were highlighted by a poster in Monster Fun #22 and a Draculass make-your-own mask on the back cover of issue #34.

Note: “Dr. Occult, the Ghost Detective” continues the original comic book vampire story the first installment of which appeared in New Fun Comics #6 (1935.) The vampire story is concluded in #9. “Dr. Occult, the Ghost Detective” goes on, but the vampire is replaced by other villains (including a werewolf cult, from #11, possibly the first werewolf appearance in comics history.)

** no. 7 (Sep. 1972.) a. “The Monster of Croglin Grange.” 6p. [Ripley’s Believe it or Not #14 (1969.)] b. “The Vampire of the Schloss” by Frank Bolle. 11p. Illustrated text version of the story that appeared in Ripley’s Believe it or Not #10 (1968.)